Researchers from Ontario public health units have identified important gaps in health data for Ontario’s school age children and youth. The findings are the result of a year-long research project examining the need for quality data to monitor the health of children and youth in the province of Ontario. The study was funded by Public Health Ontario as part of the Locally Driven Collaborative Projects (LDCP) program, and organized by public health professionals and other experts in the area of child and youth health assessment. Today they have released their findings in a final report called Children Count.

Overweight and obesity data for children under 12 in Windsor-Essex is limited. The Canadian Community Health Survey (Statistics Canada), the survey that provides local Body Mass Index (BMI) data for those aged 12 and over does not normally survey children under age 12.